AFM: Hubby got his 'you are getting furloughed' email today. 11 days off per month. That's over 1.5 weeks of pay. I don't know what we are going to do. I emailed him back and said everything will be fine, our budget can be cut a tad more, no biggie. But inside, I'm freaking out. I'm literally going to be stripping the house of anything not nailed down to sell, and put the money away secretly so we have a 'surprise savings' so he doesn't need to freak out. If he sees it, he will get too comfortable.

The furlough is from August-October, so far. The contracts are supposedly extended to February, and then a lot of contractors will be gone. Luckily by Feb/March we should have our taxes back, and thank you God for 2 extra tax deductions at a time like this!! So if he is cut in Feb, we will have a little cushion to get us through a couple months while he tries to find a new job, or waits for unemployment.

I thought furlough was only for actual gov't employees, not contractors, too. UGH. We have to rework our budget (which is already pretty tight, no extras) and see what we can do. We already cut cable and got Netflix and Hulu, but we may downsize to just 1 of those. Cut home phone, cut our grocery budget from $400/month to $300 a month or lower (have to rework that today). I may have to downsize the twin's diaper stash to just 2 days of diapers instead of 3-4, and downsize my daughter's to 2 days. I'm only keeping 1 week's worth of clothes for all of us and selling the rest. Our budget is just basics. We don't have anything going to savings, retirement/401, anything like that. It's all just plain 'ol living expenses/bills, and groceries. So when most people 'cut', they cut the extras. We just don't have those, it has to be a bill cut, or a budget cut. Our only flexible items are groceries (we don't budget fun money, spending, clothing, etc.). So lots of number crunching to do today!

So much for taking it easy the next 2 months. But I'd rather be prepared then freak out right before the babies arrive. DH can't afford to take any time off, BUT, since he'll be forced to take off days during each week, he'll be home more. So he will not take any vacation days off when the twins are born since we can't afford it. He'll be home on his 'days off' and the other days (especially right after the birth) I will HOPEFULLY have my Mom or sister or someone come stay with us. I may just have to give in and have my crazy MIL come stay with us, and just set rules early and hope it goes well.

Hope everyone else is doing good! Going for my 24 week growth ultrasound in a half hour. Need to calm down and drink some water, hopefully my BP will not be high. Going to ask them to test for GD since I think I have it, and also check my iron and feratin levels. What a day!!

I'm ok, still baking babies. I'm 1cm dilated and 30-40% effaced. On bedrest until my next appt then I'm gonna fuss for steroid injections. I didn't have as many contractions last night and only a few today.
Sorry about the job issues with your DH.

Back from my ultrasound, babies are looking great, measuring a week ahead and in 55% and 67% weight/growth percentiles. Not up as much as they would like to see from last time (both were around 60), but it is probably because I rarely eat or drink, REALLY have to work on that. DR said she doesn't think I have GD, but my test is at the next appt. for it. She thinks it's low calories and low water intake. So REALLY working on that the next 4 weeks. Cervix is good.

Apparently the furlough is 11 days in 2 months, not all 11 days in 1 month. That was a total relief that I understood him wrong, but he is still freaking out, so we're still sticking to the plan of doing what we can to be prepared and save as much as we can to cover the difference lost. Since it's only 1 day/week, I still really need him for labor/delivery and obviously a day or two after, so we need to save up for that, too, or he needs to not miss any days from work so he has some vacation time saved up.

Happy babies are looking good, both are head down for now. Midwives said they will fight with me for a natural birth, but the OB's get the final say, and they are all C-section happy and prefer them, so PRAYING that Baby A stays head down, preferably both.

dani - How far along are you again? I'm sorry you are on bedrest. I hope you get the shots when you ask.

Mykzoo - I'm sorry to hear about all the financial stress. I've been there done that, things got better and now I'm there again. It's really hard. I hope it all works out for your family. I know it's tough but try to take it easy. Money will come and go but you'll only be preggo with these babies for such a short time.

Kristen - I hope you are doing well. Thinking of you!

AFM - My girls are a little over a month old. They are both almost eight pounds now. I'm so grateful for happy healthy babies

Dani, glad you're hanging in there and it's great that you're already 30 weeks! I started all of that nonsense when I was 27 weeks but I do hope they give you the steroid shots just to be on the safe side! Hang in there babies!

Rachel, so sorry to hear about the furlough They've started that or will be starting reduced hours here on base too. I'm sure things will work out one way or the other! Definitely fuss at the bill companies and start eating/drinking more!!

ilovemygirl, wow, so hard to believe your girls are a month old already!! I bet now that you're not pregnant anymore it's going by really fast!

AFM, still cookin' along! At my last OB appt on Thursday I was 1 1/2 cm dilated. I was surprised I wasn't anymore than that but definitely happy to know I'm not a ticking time bomb. She also said my cervix was thicker than she thought it would be which is good news too. Hoping to get at least another 3-4 weeks of baking in. Talked to my mom and after all the drama, she is definitely coming out in mid-July which will be really nice. Things are really starting to get real. I have THREE baby appts this week alone. OB appt Monday, NST on Tues and then another OB appt on Thursday!

Any update from KCMama? From what I remember baby girl was not doing well. Am I remembering that correctly?

How are you all doing? Kristen - Excited to be 33 weeks? Just a few more weeks for you, how exciting!! I can't wait until I get that far. On my calendar today, I'm writing down when I hit 35-36, and really aiming to get there. I'd really love to skip the NICU all together if at all possible, I have nightmares about not being able to nurse, having babies hooked up to things and getting tests all the time. While I know every pregnancy is different, and twins seem to come at random times for so many different people, I'm just hoping to keep on baking as long as I can.

My Mom took the kiddos for today, tomorrow, and Thursday so I can rest and catch up on housework. Trying to clean with 2 needy kiddos is impossible, and it stresses me out. So when they get back, I'm hoping to have my house clean, bags of stuff for Goodwill, and the house organized so I can just ENJOY time with them. I've noticed I'm on edge more, and yell and am irritated more than usual. Need to calm down, relax, and just take it easy every day. sigh.